Dunnellon's big idea: Small town

Tuesday

Jun 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 26, 2007 at 7:00 AM

"Keeping small town small town is a good thing."Jeanie Wolf's words captured the sentiment of most of the 50 or so Dunnellon-area citizens who turned out Thursday night for a forum on future development along the U.S. 41 corridor, sponsored by the Marion County Planning Department. Then the Rainbow Lakes Estates resident pondered, "I wonder if the people in the government even consider that?"

"Keeping small town small town is a good thing."
Jeanie Wolf's words captured the sentiment of most of the 50 or so Dunnellon-area citizens who turned out Thursday night for a forum on future development along the U.S. 41 corridor, sponsored by the Marion County Planning Department. Then the Rainbow Lakes Estates resident pondered, "I wonder if the people in the government even consider that?"
Dunnellon is becoming ground zero in the ever-evolving growth management debate in North Central Florida. If just the lots already approved for development in Dunnellon are built out - Rainbow Lakes Estates, Cool Springs Ranch, Juliette Falls and the Rainbow River Ranch - the area's population could grow tenfold in a decade or so. And new developers are eyeing thousands of more sites, if they can clear county and state land use hurdles.
The reason is simple. Dunnellon is small town, and more and more people are looking for exactly that. Small town living wrapped in magnificent old Florida scenery - and all just a short drive from Ocala and the Gulf coast. Paradise.
Developers already have a good step on those seeking to control growth, but in the past seven months, Dunnellon residents seeking to get a grip on growth have made remarkable gains. They are speaking out, and they are being heard.
First came the Nov. 7 election in which three pro-environmental candidates were elected to the City Council, leading to the resignation of the mayor. That led to a more aggressive and uncompromising position opposing the controversial Rainbow River Ranch development. Out of the RRR dispute has grown Rainbow River Conservation Inc., a citizens' group formed to battle the project that has since evolved into a group focused on communicated growth and environmental concerns.
Rainbow River Conservation now is leading a campaign to get the state to buy and preserve an estimated 23,000 feet of riverfront lands that are part of the Rainbow River Ranch (450 homes) and Cool Springs (9,000 homes) properties. The group, and others in the community, no doubt encouraged a unanimous April City Council vote imposing a one-year moratorium on new large-scale developments.
If "the government" Wolf referred to isn't "considering" the public's fears of the sort of massive growth Dunnellon could face in the coming decade, it should. The growing chorus of citizen pleas to limit growth and, in the process, protect the city's two picturesque rivers is worthy of notice and acknowledgement by policy makers in the county and at the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
The idea that Dunnellon can remain the small town it is today is unrealistic, and that's unfortunate to many. But an increasingly organized, informed and, yes, vocal citizenry would do well to keep reminding those who make our growth management decisions that small town is a good thing that will require public investment and governmental restraint if it is to stay that way.

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